COMPLIANCE

This policy complies with the statutory requirement laid out in the SEND Code of Practice 0 – 25 (July 2014) 3.65 and has been written with reference to the following guidance and documents:

Equality Act 2010: advice for schools DfE Feb 2013

SEND Code of Practice 0 – 25 (July 2014)

Schools SEN Information Report Regulations (2014)

Statutory Guidance on Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions (April 2014)

The National Curriculum in England: framework for Key Stage 1 and 2 (July 2014)

Safeguarding Policy

Accessibility Plan

Teachers Standards 2012 SECTION

Headteacher : Mrs. S. Johnson

SEN Governor : Mrs. J. Mein

SEN Co-ordinator : Ms. F Nickson

Acting Deputy Head Teacher

Ribbleton Avenue Infant School

01772 796037

S.E.N. and the SCHOOL VALUES

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We believe that every child is entitled to a curriculum that enables him/her to achieve the highest levels possible. This takes account of the five outcomes of Every Child Matters (ECM) in order to develop the whole child by catering for his/her social, emotional, intellectual and moral development.

At Ribbleton Avenue infants we offer every child a happy and caring place to play and learn.

The emphasis is on a whole school approach to inclusion. Every teacher is a teacher of every child or young person including those with SEN, therefore, all teachers take a responsibility for providing all the children within their class with realistic and achievable learning goals in a broad-based, appropriately differentiated curriculum.

Our school approach to SEN has been carefully developed through close work with all stakeholders, including parents and families and reflects the SEND Code of Practice, 0-25 guidance.

The participation in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and the National Curriculum (NC) by pupils with Special Educational Needs is most likely to be achieved by providing appropriate levels of support and differentiation as advised in the SEN Code of Practice (2001).

We at Ribbleton Avenue Infants are committed to meeting the special educational needs of pupils and ensuring that they make progress. We believe in raising the aspirations of and expectations for all SEN pupils. We recognise that children’s development can be affected by special educational needs. These children may find it difficult to learn and require additional resources and/ or more support to access the curriculum in their classrooms. Some children may require play therapy to support them emotionally. Adaptations may need to be made to the curriculum, school environment and out of school activities e.g. trips for pupils with special needs and/ or disabilities. In line with our mission statement, it is our aim that all children with S.E.N. be identified and assessed as quickly and as thoroughly as possible, so that we can provide an education that is matched to their needs and ability, thus providing the opportunity for them to reach their full potential in a supportive, caring and inclusive environment.

AIM

Our vision for children with special educational needs and disabilities is the same as for all children and young people – that they achieve well in their early years, at school and in college, and lead happy and fulfilled lives. For children and young people this means that their experiences will be of a system which is less confrontational and more efficient. Their special educational needs and disabilities will be picked up at the earliest point with support routinely put in place quickly, and their parents will know what services they can reasonably expect to be provided. Children and young people and their parents or carers will be fully involved in decisions about their support and what they want to achieve. Importantly, the aspirations for children and young people will be raised through an increased focus on life outcomes, including employment and greater independence.

AIMS

Our overarching aim is to create an atmosphere of encouragement, acceptance, and respect for achievements and sensitivity to individual needs, in which all pupils can thrive by paying attention to these specific areas:

  • Identifying, at an early age, individuals who need extra help and attention
  • Enabling each pupil to reach his or her full potential, both curricular and extracurricular
  • Enabling each pupil to partake in, and contribute fully, to school life
  • Endeavouring to meet the individual needs of each child
  • Developing a feeling of self-esteem within the individual
  • Fostering an atmosphere in our school which will promote a happy, sensitive and secure environment to ensure the most effective learning for all children
  • Providing for children’s individual needs by supporting them in various ways: whole class, small groups and individual
  • Monitoring closely those with SEND by review and assessment, to enable us to recognise, celebrate and record achievements
  • Providing access to and progression within the curriculum
  • Working with parents and other agencies to provide support and opportunities for those children with SEND
  • Using a variety of teaching strategies, which include different learning styles, to facilitate meaningful and effective learning for all children
  • Assisting all staff in the delivery of educational entitlement and ensuring all staff are aware of a child’s individual needs
  • Ensuring access to a range of resources to support staff in their teaching of children with SEND
  • Including the voice of the child in monitoring and reviewing Pupil Profiles

OBJECTIVES

  • Identify and provide for pupils who have special educational needs and additional needs
  • Work within the guidance provide in the SEND Code of Practice, 2014
  • Operate a “whole pupil, whole school” approach to the management and provision of support for special educational needs
  • Provide a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator(SENCo) who will work with the SEN Inclusion Policy
  • Provide support and advice for all staff working with special educational needs pupils

IDENTIFYING SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

Special educational provision should be matched to the child’s identified SEN. Children’s SEN are generally thought of in the following four broad areas of need and support:

• Communication and interaction

• Cognition and learning

• Social, emotional and mental health

• Sensory and/or physical needs

TYPES OF SEN

SEN is divided into 4 types:

  • Communication and Interaction - this includes children with speech and language delay, impairments or disorders, specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and dyspraxia, hearing impairment, and those who demonstrate features within the autistic spectrum.
  • Cognition and Learning - this includes children who demonstrate features of moderate, severe or profound learning difficulties or specific learning difficulties or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia or dyspraxia.
  • Social, mental and Emotional Health - this includes children who may be withdrawn or isolated, disruptive or disturbing, hyperactive or lack concentration.
  • Sensory and/or Physical Needs - this includes children with sensory, multisensory and physical difficulties.

Other factors that may impact on progress:

The areas listed below have been identified as factors that may impact on progress but are not necessarily SEN:

  • Behavioural difficulties do not necessarily mean that a child or young person has a SEN and should not automatically lead to a pupil being registered as having SEN.
  • Slow progress and low attainment do not necessarily mean that a child has SEN and should not automatically lead to a pupil being recorded as having SEN.
  • Persistent disruptive or withdrawn behaviours do not necessarily mean that a child or young person has SEN.
  • Identifying and assessing SEN for children or young people whose first language is not English requires particular care; difficulties related solely to limitations in English as an additional language are not SEN.
  • Attendance and Punctuality do not necessarily mean that a child or young person has SEN.
  • Health and Welfare do not necessarily mean that a child or young person has SEN.
  • Being in receipt of Pupil Premium Grant do not necessarily mean that a child or young person has SEN.
  • Being a Looked After Child do not necessarily mean that a child or young person has SEN.
  • Being a child of Serviceman/woman do not necessarily mean that a child or young person has SEN.

Disability

Many children and young people who have SEN may have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 – that is ‘…a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. This definition provides a relatively low threshold and includes more children than many realise: ‘long-term’ is defined as ‘a year or more’ and ‘substantial’ is defined as ‘more than minor or trivial’.

This definition includes sensory impairments such as those affecting sight or hearing, and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and cancer. Children and young people with such conditions do not necessarily have SEN, but there is a significant overlap between disabled children and young people and those with SEN.

Where a disabled child or young person requires special educational provision they will also be covered by the SEN definition. As a school we observe two key duties:

  • We must not directly or indirectly discriminate against, harass or victimise disabled children and young people
  • We must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services, to ensure that disabled children and young people are not at a substantial disadvantage compared with their peers.

This duty is anticipatory – it requires thought to be given in advance to what disabled children and young people might require and what adjustments might need to be made to prevent that disadvantage

A Graduated Approach to SEN Support

IDENTIFICATION, ASSESSMENT AND REVIEW

The Code of Practice outlines a graduated response to pupils’ needs, recognising that there is a continuum of need matched by a continuum of support. This response is seen as action that is additional to or different from the provision made as part of the school’s usual differentiated curriculum and strategies.

A register is kept of pupils with SEND. Where concern is expressed that a pupil may have a special educational need, the class teacher takes early action to assess and address the difficulties. Reviews of pupils on the SEND register take place three times a year. For pupils with Education, Health & Care plans (formerly Statements), an annual review meeting has to be held in addition to this.

A Graduated Approach to SEN Support at Ribbleton Avenue Infant School, we adopt a “high quality teaching” approach. The key characteristics of high quality teaching are:

  • Highly focused lesson design with sharp objectives
  • High demands of pupil involvement and engagement with their learning
  • High levels of interaction for all pupils
  • Appropriate use of teacher questioning, modelling and explaining
  • An emphasis on the use of a variety learning styles that encourage and inspire each individual pupil to engage in their learning
  • Regular use of encouragement and authentic praise to engage and motivate pupils.

Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the pupils in their class, including where pupils access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff. High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEND; additional intervention and support cannot compensate for a lack of high quality teaching.

We regularly and carefully review the quality of teaching for all pupils, including those at risk of underachievement, through lesson observations, book scrutinies and pupil progress meetings which take place termly.

Professional development opportunities are provided for staff to extend their knowledge and understanding of SEND and high quality teaching. We assess each pupil’s current skills and levels of attainment on entry, building on information from previous settings and key stages where appropriate.

Class teachers, supported by the Senior Leadership Team, should make regular assessments of progress for all pupils. These should seek to identify pupils making less than expected progress given their age and individual circumstances. This can be characterised by progress which:

  • Is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline
  • Fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress
  • Fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers
  • Widens the attainment gap

The first response to such progress should be high quality teaching targeted at their areas of weakness. This can also include progress in areas other than attainment – for instance where a pupil needs to make additional progress with wider development or social needs in order to make a successful transition to adult life. Where a pupil is identified as having SEN, schools should take action to remove barriers to learning and put effective special educational provision in place.

This SEN support should take the form of a four-part cycle through which earlier decisions and actions are revisited, refined and revised with a growing understanding of the pupil’s needs and of what supports the pupil in making good progress and securing good outcomes. This is known as the graduated approach. It draws on more detailed approaches, more frequent review and more specialist expertise in successive cycles in order to match interventions to the SEN of children and young people.

Assess, Plan, Do, Review

Assess

In identifying a child as needing SEN support the class teacher, working with the SENCO, should carry out a clear analysis of the pupil’s needs. This should draw on the teacher’s assessment and experience of the pupil, their previous progress and attainment, the views and experience of parents, the pupil’s own views and, if relevant, advice from external support services. Schools should take seriously any concerns raised by a parent. These should be recorded and compared to the setting’s own assessment and information on how the pupil is developing. In some cases, outside professionals from health or social services may already be involved with the child. These professionals should liaise with the school to help inform the assessments. Where professionals are not already working with school staff the SENCO should contact them (if the parents agree).

Plan

Where it is decided to provide a pupil with SEN support, the parents must be formally notified. The teacher and the SENCO should agree, in consultation with the parent and the pupil (where appropriate), the adjustments, interventions and support to be put in place, as well as the expected impact on progress, development or behaviour, along with a clear date for review. The support and intervention provided should be selected to meet the outcomes identified for the pupil, based on reliable evidence of effectiveness, and should be provided by staff with sufficient skills and knowledge. Where appropriate, plans should seek parental involvement to reinforce or contribute to progress at home. All teachers and support staff who work with the pupil should be made aware of their needs, the outcomes sought, the support provided and any teaching strategies or approaches that are required. This should also be recorded on the school’s information system.

Do

The class teacher should remain responsible for working with the child on a daily basis. Where the interventions involve group or one-to-one teaching away from the main class or subject teacher, they should still retain responsibility for the pupil. They should work closely with any teaching assistants or specialist staff involved, to plan and assess the impact of support and interventions and how they can be linked to classroom teaching. The SENCO should support the class or subject teacher in the further assessment of the child’s particular strengths and weaknesses, in problem solving and advising on the effective implementation of support.

Review

The effectiveness of the support and interventions and their impact on the pupil’s progress should be reviewed in line with the agreed date. The impact and quality of the support and interventions should be evaluated, along with the views of the pupil and their parents. This should feed back into the analysis of the pupil’s needs. The class or subject teacher, working with the SENCO, should revise the support in light of the pupil’s progress and development, deciding on any changes to the support and outcomes in consultation with the parent and pupil. Where a pupil has an Education and Health Care plan, the local authority, in cooperation with the school, must review that plan as a minimum every twelve months. The success of the school’s SEND policy and provision is evaluated through:

  • Monitoring of classroom practice by the Headteacher, Deputy Head and SENCo
  • Analysis of pupil tracking data
  • Monitoring of procedures and practice by the SEND governor
  • School Self-Evaluation document
  • Local Authority moderation process and OFSTED inspection arrangements
  • Meetings of parents and staff, both formal and informal

MANAGING PUPILS NEEDS ON THE SEN REGISTER